The Rev. Al Sharpton vowed Tuesday to organize a national “tune out” of the Oscars for its failure for the second year in a row to nominate a single black actor or director for an award.
Sharpton’s National Action Network said it plans to work with activists and advocacy groups in hopes that Americans “will turn off anything that does not represent the broad cultural and diverse contributions of American entertainment.”
“We’ve talked about the climate of exclusion for people of color in Hollywood both in terms of being selected for possible awards and in terms of having power to make deals and it seems as though Hollywood listens a day or two and moves on. Now it’s time to make sure we can’t be ignored. A “tune out” can do that,” Sharpton told Variety.
“If major advertisers know that people are tuning out and the ratings are down, that will impact the bottom line of the value of the Academy and the Academy has to, at some point, determine whether or not it is in their interest to continue excluding people and excluding them at what price. Now we have to escalate that price,” he added.
Sharpton’s comments comes after director Spike Lee said he would not attend the ceremony, and actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s suggestion of a boycott.
Actress Janet Hubert, who played Will Smith’s Aunt Viv on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” ripped the boycott movement and said there are plenty of other pressing issues for the African American community.
“People are dying. Our boys are being shot left and right. People are hungry. People are starving. People are trying to pay bills,” Hubert said. “And you’re talking about some (expletive) actors and Oscars. And it just ain’t that deep.”